Ice skating will return for holidays

Skaters make their way around the ice skating rink at the transportation museum in Tuscaloosa on Nov. 26, 2012.

Dusty Compton | The Tuscaloosa News

By Jason MortonStaff Writer

Published: Wednesday, February 27, 2013 at 3:30 a.m.

Last Modified: Tuesday, February 26, 2013 at 11:49 p.m.

TUSCALOOSA | Final tabulations of expenses and revenues for the city's first Holidays on the River event showed that the popular attraction netted a profit of $1,488.

City officials said this figure would have been higher if not for a series of unexpected expenses, such as the purchase of a $16,000 generator that can be used at multiple city facilities.

Still, the popularity of the ice skating rink, which saw more than 14,000 attendees, was enough for Mayor Walt Maddox to recommend that City Hill continue the event again this holiday season.

“It (generated) the most positive feedback of any city-sponsored event during my tenure,” said Maddox, who is nearing the end of his second term as mayor. “And it's financially feasible that we can host it and it not have a negative impact on our (finances).”

Wendy Riggs, director of the city of Tuscaloosa's arts and entertainment department, outlined a detailed set of statistics during Tuesday's precouncil meeting of the Tuscaloosa City Council.

Featured among the data was the $211,417.89 in revenues that the event brought in.

This was weighed against the $209,929.06 — including the $70,000 for the installation of the rink itself — that the event cost in its five weeks of operation, The event was hampered by rain disruptions and the Christmas Day holiday, during which the rink was not open.

“We learned a lot,” Riggs told the council. “We learned how to run an ice rink, and we learned how to make ice.”

Riggs and her staff also learned that Mondays and Tuesdays brought few visitors to the rink, meaning that it will probably be open on these days only for special or private events this year.

Of the visitors, 13,460 purchased their tickets from the box office while fewer than 1,000 — 962, to be exact — used the online ticketing service that came with a slight discount.

Of those who purchased online, more than half, or 51.9 percent, purchased them from a Tuscaloosa-based ZIP code, but purchases also were made from Northport, Reform, Cottondale, Demopolis, Brookwood, Bessemer, Fayette, Greensboro, Birmingham and other areas inside and outside Alabama.

“We were pretty regional,” Riggs said of the ticket purchases, “but I don't think it was just people from Tuscaloosa and Tuscaloosa County.”

Adult tickets — those sold to skaters 12 and older — outnumbered those sold to younger visitors by about 2,000, and an additional 1,200 tickets were given free to the event sponsors.

Riggs said she anticipates having even more sponsors for future events, since several potential sponsors who initially turned down the city's request for funding called later to express regret.

With the green light from the mayor and council to proceed with planning another Holidays on the River, Riggs will not be pressed for time, unlike last year when the event opened less than a month after it was first presented to the City Council in early November.

With the additional time, Riggs said other options — such as a rink larger than the 60-foot-by-85-foot facility used this year or even an ice slide — are possibilities.

“We were really, really lucky,” Riggs told the council. “Everybody in our department was pumped about how successful we were.”

<p>TUSCALOOSA | Final tabulations of expenses and revenues for the city's first Holidays on the River event showed that the popular attraction netted a profit of $1,488.</p><p>City officials said this figure would have been higher if not for a series of unexpected expenses, such as the purchase of a $16,000 generator that can be used at multiple city facilities.</p><p>Still, the popularity of the ice skating rink, which saw more than 14,000 attendees, was enough for Mayor Walt Maddox to recommend that City Hill continue the event again this holiday season.</p><p>“It (generated) the most positive feedback of any city-sponsored event during my tenure,” said Maddox, who is nearing the end of his second term as mayor. “And it's financially feasible that we can host it and it not have a negative impact on our (finances).”</p><p>Wendy Riggs, director of the city of Tuscaloosa's arts and entertainment department, outlined a detailed set of statistics during Tuesday's precouncil meeting of the Tuscaloosa City Council.</p><p>Featured among the data was the $211,417.89 in revenues that the event brought in.</p><p>This was weighed against the $209,929.06 — including the $70,000 for the installation of the rink itself — that the event cost in its five weeks of operation, The event was hampered by rain disruptions and the Christmas Day holiday, during which the rink was not open.</p><p>“We learned a lot,” Riggs told the council. “We learned how to run an ice rink, and we learned how to make ice.”</p><p>Riggs and her staff also learned that Mondays and Tuesdays brought few visitors to the rink, meaning that it will probably be open on these days only for special or private events this year.</p><p>Of the visitors, 13,460 purchased their tickets from the box office while fewer than 1,000 — 962, to be exact — used the online ticketing service that came with a slight discount.</p><p>Of those who purchased online, more than half, or 51.9 percent, purchased them from a Tuscaloosa-based ZIP code, but purchases also were made from Northport, Reform, Cottondale, Demopolis, Brookwood, Bessemer, Fayette, Greensboro, Birmingham and other areas inside and outside Alabama.</p><p>“We were pretty regional,” Riggs said of the ticket purchases, “but I don't think it was just people from Tuscaloosa and Tuscaloosa County.”</p><p>Adult tickets — those sold to skaters 12 and older — outnumbered those sold to younger visitors by about 2,000, and an additional 1,200 tickets were given free to the event sponsors.</p><p>Riggs said she anticipates having even more sponsors for future events, since several potential sponsors who initially turned down the city's request for funding called later to express regret.</p><p>With the green light from the mayor and council to proceed with planning another Holidays on the River, Riggs will not be pressed for time, unlike last year when the event opened less than a month after it was first presented to the City Council in early November.</p><p>With the additional time, Riggs said other options — such as a rink larger than the 60-foot-by-85-foot facility used this year or even an ice slide — are possibilities.</p><p>“We were really, really lucky,” Riggs told the council. “Everybody in our department was pumped about how successful we were.”</p>